I know there are thousands of you that just don't know how to keep up on tasks, or even how to tackle them to begin with. I used to be one of those people, I never used to do anything and I would always be late for things. Being disorganised would lead to me being so stressed out and I just felt frustrated and busy a lot of the time. But now, I'd say I'm quite an organised person, borderline obsessively organised person.
I'm not claiming to be perfect in any way, I do still drop the ball on a few tasks and I still leave things till the last minute! But my tasks are much more manageable when I stick to my system. Everything has a place and there's a place for everything so to say (although my bedroom is still a mess, but we can ignore that).
In the way of work, or makeup or clothes. My stuff is sorted out just the way I like it and I always know what I have to do. Therefore, I have devised some tips to help you manage tasks more efficiently too!
1. To do lists
I have to have a to-do list at all times. And although it constantly has 20 things on it, I still feel so much better for having it. I even have to-do lists for different areas of my life. I have a University list (sigh, my longest one), a general life list - which reminds me, I need to put windscreen wash in my car! - and a travel list so I know what needs doing before my next trip. You can either write these down in a notebook (my next point), grab yourself a memo or sticky notes pad, or download one of the list apps - these can even sync to your emails and let you know your deadlines! It also helps to have a little memo pad lying around to write these lists on!
2. Notebook
This is something that I have only recently used religiously, I bought a nice new paperchase one just to motivate me to use it more. In here I have more lists - upcoming blogposts, places I want to see on my next trip, makeup I need to try etc. It's a really good way of having all of your thoughts and ideas in one place so you don't forget them!
3. Diary
I have always loved having a planner for school/college/university. I also put any birthdays I may forget in there. Not only are my deadlines in my diary. but I put in reminders for the week before just so I'm sure I won't forget! If it's possible, write your academic timetable or your work's rota in your diary too and put any extras in there as well.
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| Notebook, Diary and Memo Pad all from paperchase |
These are two words that I absolutely live by. Pretty much everything in my life is either colour coded, or it's organised by colour in some way. All of my modules at university have a coloured folder and I write my notes down for each topic corresponding to that colour. That way, when it comes to revision, I can easily know what I need. My lipsticks and even my to do lists are colour coded too. (I know, I'm a little insane)
5. Separate.
An extension of my last point would be to separate chunks of things. This means have a different folder for every subject at school. Organise your wardrobe so that summer clothes are on one side and winter on another. If you can't do that, put coats and jackets in one place, then jumpers, tops, pants, skirts, dresses, playsuits and accessories all following.
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| Multicoloured folders £2.99 each at whsmith |
6. Tackle the most difficult/most urgent task first
Say you have about 20 things to do for school, and one of them is reading a 60 page chapter, and it takes you forever to read. Do that task first. If you don't, finishing the other tasks won't be as satisfying as you still have that pain lingering over you.
7. Break up tasks into manageable parts
For my music exams, I have to learn 3 classical pieces. I should be able to go from terrible to confident in around 100-150 plays. However, I'm not going to sit down a few nights before an exam and play a piece 100 times. I usually like to break it up into either 20 plays a week or 5 plays a day. With each day, I see an improvement. Life is a marathon, not a sprint!
8. Don't hoard
This covers quite a few areas. My grandma is a massive hoarder. She has all of my dads old schoolbooks and wanted to keep mine too, but there were just too many and I had to keep them. Once you are finished with something, don't hold on to it! If you got an A in your first maths exam, you don't need your core 1 past papers any more. If you've lost a bit of weight, you don't need your bigger clothes any more. Once you've finished a product, you need to throw it away, no matter how pretty the bottle is (this is tough for me personally).
9. Make note of other people's routines
This isn't absolutely necessary but I find it helps me a lot with my work. Just because you are organised doesn't mean that other people are, or even, you could double book yourself. You need to know who can help you out in that situation. You don't have to religiously memorise what others are doing, but just take notice of when people are in university or work.
10. Reward yourself and make time to relax
Not to be confused with procrastination, it's important to make time for yourself too. If all you think about is how much work you're going to have to do, then you're going to stress. You need to reward yourself for doing these tasks. My favourite is if I read a chapter of one of my law books, then I can read a chapter of a fictional book. Or if I get all of my seminar prep done, then I can reward myself with a bath instead of a shower. And of course, new shoes every time I get an essay finished.
There are 10 tips to help you get or stay organised! I'm not saying you have to do all of these things to be organised, but these definitely help me out! These are just general tips that can be transferred into any area of life but if you'd like me to do specific organisational tips on work, finances, home or your mind, let me know and I would be happy to do so!
Happy organising!
CJ x
